Week 18 — Timed Practice: Section 2 Literary Performance Task

MCAP ELA 10 practice · Timed Section 2 literary performance task · Download .docx

Objectives

Compare how two literary passages develop a shared theme, explaining both the similarity and the key difference.
Analyze how each author's choices of character, point of view, structure, and language shape a passage's meaning.
Plan and write a timed literary analysis that uses evidence from both passages and meets the Written Expression and Written Conventions rubric rows.

Key terms

Literary performance task: Two theme-linked literary passages, items, and one constructed response in 70 minutes.
Shared theme: A message about life both passages develop.
Point of contrast: The main way two passages treat a shared theme differently.
Comparative thesis: A claim that names both passages, the theme, and how their treatment differs or aligns.
Embedded evidence: A short quotation woven into your own sentence.
Commentary: Your explanation of how a piece of evidence develops the theme.
Rubric rows: Written Expression 0 to 4 and Written Conventions 0 to 3.

The concept

What Section 2 Asks You to Do

Section 2 is the literary performance task. You read two literary passages that share a theme, answer about 6 to 9 items, and write one constructed response. Everything happens in 70 minutes, so the section rewards students who read with the essay in mind from the start.

Read Both, Then Name the Link

Read Passage 1 and Passage 2 before you open the items. When you finish, write one sentence on scratch paper that states the shared theme as a complete idea about life. 'Courage' is a topic. 'Courage often means acting while you are still afraid' is a theme. That sentence becomes the seed of your thesis.

Find the Difference

Paired passages are chosen because they connect, but strong analysis also explains how they differ. Ask: Is one hopeful and one sad? Is one told by a child and one by an adult looking back? Is one a story with dialogue and one a poem built on images? The difference is often what makes your essay interesting.

Let the Items Feed the Essay

Many items ask you to locate evidence or explain a word, a detail, or a character's choice. Each time you find a strong line, star it. By the time you reach the constructed response, you should already have two or three quotations from each passage.

Build the Response

A dependable structure: an introduction that names both texts and ends with a comparative thesis; a body paragraph on Passage 1; a body paragraph on Passage 2; a paragraph on the key similarity or difference; and a short conclusion. In each body paragraph, introduce a quotation, embed it, then explain how it develops the theme.

How It Is Scored

Written Expression is scored 0 to 4. It looks at whether your ideas are clear, your evidence is relevant and from both texts, your explanation connects evidence to the theme, and your organization flows. Written Conventions is scored 0 to 3 for grammar, usage, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. Scores reflect what is in your response, so a focused, well-supported essay earns more than a long one that wanders.

Watch the Clock

If you are still answering items at minute 35, choose your best answers, flag them, and start writing. An unfinished essay costs far more than one uncertain item.

Worked examples

Example 1: Passage 1: "Ana had never jumped from the high board. She climbed the ladder slowly, counted the rungs, and stood at the edge until her coach stopped calling her name. Then she stepped off." Passage 2: "My grandfather crossed an ocean / with one bag and no English. / He said fear is a coat / you wear until you're warm enough to drop it." Task: State the shared theme and one difference. Step 1: Find what both characters face: fear before a big step. Step 2: State the theme fully: courage means moving forward while still afraid. Step 3: Find the difference: Passage 1 shows one small moment in action; Passage 2 reflects on a life-changing journey through a metaphor. Model thesis: Both passages show that courage means acting while still afraid, but the story captures a single moment while the poem uses the image of a coat to show fear fading over time.

Example 2: Student body paragraph draft: "In Passage 1, Ana is scared. She climbs slowly. This shows she is scared." Task: Revise to add evidence and commentary. Step 1: Introduce and embed evidence: Ana 'counted the rungs' and 'stood at the edge until her coach stopped calling her name.' Step 2: Explain how the evidence works: counting the rungs shows her trying to control her fear, and the coach's silence suggests the decision has become hers alone. Step 3: Link to the theme: her final, plain action, 'Then she stepped off,' shows that courage did not erase her fear; she acted anyway. The revision now shows evidence, explanation, and a link to the thesis, which is what Written Expression rewards.

Common mistakes

Writing about only one passage in the constructed response. Fix: plan at least one body paragraph per passage and a paragraph that compares them, and check that your thesis names both texts.
Stating the theme as a single word, such as 'family' or 'courage.' Fix: turn the topic into a full sentence about life that both passages support.
Dropping quotations into the essay without explanation. Fix: after every quotation, write at least one sentence that explains how those exact words develop the theme.

Self-check

Try each one before you look. A miss here costs nothing and tells you exactly what to reread.

1. What does the Section 2 literary performance task include?

2. Which is a theme rather than a topic?

3. You are still on the items at minute 35 of Section 2. What is the best choice?

4. What should follow a quotation in a strong body paragraph?

5. What range is the Written Conventions row scored on?

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